The ergonomics and safety of motor vehicles have undergone many improvements. One of these improvements has been the increased range of adjustments that can be made to the positioning of the vehicle operator and the positioning of the operating controls of the vehicle with respect to the operator. Specifically, in addition to providing a variety of positioning adjustments to the operator's seat, many vehicles now provide adjustments to the steering wheel height and distance and the forward and backward positioning of the control pedals (brake, accelerator and/or clutch) with respect to the operator's position.
An example of an adjustable pedal is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,431,021 which shows a pedal which can be moved about a pivot point to adjust the pedal position forward and backward as desired. Published PCT application WO 01/6924 shows another adjustable pedal which moves about pivot points to allow forward and backward adjustment.
While prior art adjustable pedals have been well received in the marketplace, they do suffer from some problems. For example, some adjustable pedals are quite complex and expensive to manufacture. Further, movement of the pedals in many of the prior art adjustable pedal mechanisms is achieved by pivoting a sub-assembly of the pedal mechanism through a circular path about a pivot point. This pivoting motion changes the geometry between the pedal, its mounting bracket and the rod or cable being acted on by the pedal. Thus, adjustment of the pedals along the circular path about the pivot also alters the mechanical advantage provided by the pedal assembly and this results in the controls of the vehicle operating somewhat differently when the pedals are adjusted to different positions. Other prior art adjustable pedals also suffer from changing mechanical advantage between the pedal and the control cable or rod as the position of the pedal is adjusted. Such a variation in the operation of the vehicle controls is clearly undesirable.
It is therefore desired to have a moveable control pedal assembly which is not overly complex and/or expensive to manufacture and which does not alter the operation of the vehicle controls when moved into different positions.